View Corridors, huh?

In the North Macadam District Design Guidelines adopted in 2000, the first “Design Objective” for North Macadam (now known as South Waterfront) reads:

“The provision of seven view corridors through the District that focus on the river”

So how is that working out?

Does this look like a “view corridor” to you?

Even from the best angle through the area, so-called view corridors are overshadowed and overwhelmed by the towering skyscrapers in the so-called design district.

And when I took a bus ride through the area a couple of months ago, I couldn’t help but notice that at least one of the “view corridors” has a horizontal building at the end of the street, between the perpendicular road and the river, so the only “view” is the tops of the trees on Ross Island, rather than the river.

The South Waterfront district is by no means built out. Only east-west views through it from public rights-of-way are “protected”. Not the views of the river from the designated Scenic Viewpoints on SW Terwilliger. Not the take-your-breath-away gorgeous view of Mount St. Helens from I-5 North, on a clear day. And certainly not the views of homes further back from the river. Enjoy it this summer, because most if not all of those views will be gone when the district is fully built out.

The City Council knew this was what they approved. Jerry Ward, resident of the neighborhood then known as Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill, made accurate charts and diagrams showing the Council the expected skyline after construction. In fact, the Council wanted to take away the element of the Comprehensive Plan that requires that throughout the Central City, there should be a step-down in development height to the river. They were thwarted in sneaking that all-city change into the district North Macadam Plan by one alert citizen and one responsive Planning Commissioner, who together persuaded the rest of the Planning Commission that the Central City Plan could not be amended without public notice to all its stakeholders. So instead, the Council simply approved building heights in South Waterfront that ignore the Comprehensive Plan. And we are now only starting to see the results.